Create and Use Virtual Machine Templates

On the basis of your virtual machines you can create templates. Later you can use them to create multiple identical virtual machines. To create a virtual machine template, you can:

• convert a virtual machine to a template; or
• clone a virtual machine to a template.

The difference between these two ways is that when you convert a virtual machine to a template, you can't run it until you convert the template back to the virtual machine. And when you clone a virtual machine to a template, the template appears separately from the virtual machine and you can work with both.

A template, in its turn, can be converted or deployed back to the virtual machine. When you convert a template, it turns back to the virtual machine, And when you deploy it, the resulting virtual machine appears separately from the template and you can work with both.

Convert a Virtual Machine to a Template

To convert a virtual machine to a template:

1. Start Parallels Workstation.
2. In the sidebar , right-click the virtual machine you want to convert (it must be shut down) and choose Convert to Template .

Convert a Template to the Virtual Machine

To convert a template back to the virtual machine:

1. Start Parallels Workstation.
2. In the sidebar , right-click the template you want to convert and choose Convert to Virtual Machine .

Clone a Virtual Machine to a Template

To clone a virtual machine to a template:

1. Start Parallels Workstation.
2. In the sidebar , right-click the virtual machine you want to clone (it must be shut down) and choose Clone to Template .
3. Choose where you want to store the resulting template.

   By default, Parallels Workstation stores templates in your Documents > My Parallels folder.

4. Click Clone to start cloning the virtual machine to the template.

Deploy a Template to the Virtual Machine

To deploy a template back to the virtual machine:

1. Start Parallels Workstation.
2. In the sidebar , right-click the template you want to deploy and choose Deploy to Virtual Machine .
3. Choose where you want to store the resulting virtual machine.

   By default, Parallels Workstation stores virtual machines in your Documents > My Parallels folder.

4. Click Deploy to start deploying the template to the virtual machine.